20034: Mouthwashes containing alcohol

I have been advised not to use Listerine, a kind of mouthwash, because it contains some form of alcohol. However, if the kind of alcohol it contains is not an intoxicant, is there some other reason for its prohibition or would it be permissible to use it?

Praise be to Allaah.

If the alcohol which this mouthwash contains is not
intoxicating, then it is ok. to use it, so long as it is not harmful,
because what is haraam is only that which is intoxicating.

Shaykh Sa’d al-Humayd.

In this case we should look at the drink as a whole: if a lot
of it causes intoxication then a little of it is haraam.